NORTHEASTERN INDIA, NAGALAND, KONYAK AND KALYO KENGYU TRIBES

The number of knob finials fashioned into heads as the wearer added to his number of heads taken during a successful raid. The trophy-head pendant has markings on the mouths to indicate they were stitched closed to retain the potent spirit of the deceased within the pendant. For further discussion with closely related examples, see O. Untracht, Traditional Jewelry of India, 1997, p. 55, fig. 75; p. 63, fig. 87; and p. 64, fig. 91.